One of the most pleasing indications of the prosperous condition of Montana is to be found in her excellent school system and the popular interest manifested in its rapid development. But little benefit has been derived from the provisions of the organic act, which sets apart sections 16 and 36 of each township as a reserve for school purposes. Practically, the law is inoperative at the present time. In referring to this subject the governor says:
Many of these lands are mineral-bearing, and our local land office holds that they may be patented by individuals, and we have recourse only to the location of other lands in lieu of those thus patented. Unfortunately, neither the superintendent of public instruction nor any one else in the Territory has authority of law to thus relocate lands in such emergencies. Immigrants are rapidly securing the best sections, and if this evil is not promptly remedied it will not be long before the lands left us to choose from will be comparatively worthless.
The report concludes with a statement of the present condition of the Indian tribes within the Territory, their relations to the whites, accompanied by suggestions as to their future government, which should receive the candid consideration which their importance demands.
The governor of Idaho reports gold and silver as the leading resources of the Territory; all other industries are subsidiary to the production of the precious metals. The greater portion of the Territory is unfitted for cultivation by reason of the mountains and desert plains, too elevated to admit of irrigation. The valleys where water abounds, or where irrigation can be profitably carried on, produce in rich abundance the cereal grains, vegetables of all kinds, and fruits in their perfection. Beyond producing for home consumption there is but little inducement for agricultural enterprises, the means for transportation being extremely limited.
It is to be regretted that the cause of education receives but indifferent attention. The lands reserved for school purposes are not available as a source of revenue, so that what is done in the^ educational line depends upon the direct tax collected for that purpose. The Territory has no benevolent or charitable institutions and no asylums for the unfortunate of any class. In referring to the Indian tribes within the Territory the governor says:
Whatever policy may be adopted toward the native tribes, it cannot be concealed that the steady encroachments of the white settlements are rendering their condition distressing and their vicinity more dangerous. Seeing themselves surrounded and circumvented, their hunting-grounds overrun, and their means of subsistence cut off, they become desperate and aggressive and mutual wrongs lead to war.
The governor expresses the opinion that our border population and the Indians cannot dwell near each other in peace under existing relations. He thinks a remedy may be found in the division of Indian lands into homesteads; the breaking up of tribal relations, and the extension over them of the laws of the United States and of the Territories. Reference is made to the extreme difficulty in traveling in the Territory, and an illustration of this is given in the statement that the members of the
